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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28497864">of heating pads and tired eyes</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jay_Grace/pseuds/Jay_Grace'>Jay_Grace</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, hornet ocs, is that Lydia's last name?? idk, me?? projecting my chronic pain onto my ocs?? its more likely than you think., spoon needs some fucking therapy, spoon stop wanting to fuck the first person who shows you human kindness, srsly i raised u better</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:34:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,402</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28497864</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jay_Grace/pseuds/Jay_Grace</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>spoon just wanted to microwave some rice. why did keith decide now was a good time to talk things out?? also, when did keith get a tongue peircing?? lydia is also in this and she's very tired of spoon's shit.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Spoon|Augustus Whitemire &amp; Keith adventurezone, Spoon|Augustus Whitemire &amp; Lydia Ricci</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>of heating pads and tired eyes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>spoon. get some therapy. i worry about you.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>                It’s harder during the winter, Spoon noticed. They were asleep on the couch, tangled in Bee’s my little pony blanket when the pain hit. Not out of nowhere. Spoon’s shoulder had been aching all day, but this was a sharp pain, pulling a wheeze from their chest as they sat up, tears threatening their eyes.</p>
<p>Spoon tugged the blanket behind them, making their way to the kitchen. They dug around the cabinets for a bag of rice, wincing at the noise. As quietly as possible, they wrestled the rice into one of the cloth bags Bow keeps their jewelry in, tugging the drawstring closed with their teeth. That’s how Keith found them, standing on an old blanket, chewing on a bag, and spilling rice on his counters.</p>
<p>“what the fuck, man?” he said, snatching the bag from between Spoon’s teeth, ignoring their whimper.</p>
<p>“’s none of your business,” Spoon said, trying their very best to look tough.</p>
<p>“no seriously, it’s 4am,” Keith gestured to the mess, “why?”</p>
<p>                Spoon sniffed, wincing at the pain that shot through their shoulder as they did so. Keith raised his eyebrow.</p>
<p>                “Ronnie said that heat helps with pain,” Spoon said quietly, sitting at the counter, “they said they used to microwave rice and use it like a heating pad, so I figured-”</p>
<p>                “you figured you’d try to one-handedly microwave rice at 4am when the whole nest is asleep. Right, makes sense,”</p>
<p>                “I didn’t-!” Spoon caught themselves, biting down on their tongue. They took a deep breath, “I didn’t know what else to do,”</p>
<p>                Keith sighed, walking past Spoon and flicking their nose in the process. He opened a small closet, pulling out a few blankets and, to Spoon’s surprise, a heating pad.</p>
<p>                “here dipshit, just check the hall before screwing up my kitchen next time, fuck,” Keith set the pile down in front of Spoon, walking back towards the stairs. Spoon sat up.</p>
<p>                “wait-!” they said. Keith paused, raising a pierced eyebrow.</p>
<p>                Spoon hesitated, were they really gonna do this? <em>Now</em>? Fuck.</p>
<p>                “I’m- fuck,” they started. Keith let out an impatient sigh, “I’m sorry, for wrecking your bike. I know I paid for it but-“</p>
<p>                Keith waved his hand.</p>
<p>                “forget it, kid, I’m over it-”</p>
<p>                “yeah, you <em>say</em> that but-”</p>
<p>                Keith rolled his eyes, walking back over to Spoon.</p>
<p>                “is this a thing? Are we doing a thing right now? I need to know if this is gonna be a thing before I sit down,”</p>
<p>                Spoon blinked up at him and Keith sighed.</p>
<p>                “cool,” he sat down, “look, I don’t know what your deal is tonight, but you either need to go for a walk and cry about it or let it the fuck go. There’s no looking back in the hornets, no regrets. If you fuck up, you own up, and then you move on.”</p>
<p>                Spoon stared at him, processing his words. Keith leaned his elbows on the counter and licked his lips, revealing a tongue piercing that momentarily made Spoon’s brain stutter. (What the fuck?? No it didn’t, you can’t prove anything fuck off-)</p>
<p>                “you already owned up, kid. You paid for my new bike, you washed my shit for a week, you’re done paying for-”</p>
<p>                “no, I’m <em>not,</em>” Spoon clenched their fists, breath hitching at the pain that washed through their arm, “if I was done paying for it, then I wouldn’t be fucking awake right now, in fucking pain, trying to fit rice into a fucking <em>jewelry bag</em>-”</p>
<p>                Tears dripped onto the counter, soaking into the wood. They tried to control their breathing like Bee taught them, but they’re so fucking <em>embarrassed</em> god why <em>Keith</em> of all people-</p>
<p>                They felt a hand drop onto their wrist. It was bony and cold, and definitely not comforting, but it was there, and was… kind of nice? God- fucking- Spoon wants to die. Their shoulder is throbbing, they’re crying in a kitchen at 4am, and fucking <em>Keith Adventurezone</em> of all people is trying to comfort them. This is the worst day of their life.</p>
<p>                It took Spoon a moment to realize Keith wasn’t resting a gentle hand on their wrist, but tugging them up by it, pulling them by their good arm towards the front door,</p>
<p>                “Keith, what-” they were cut off by Keith letting go of their arm and shoving a coat towards them, tugging on one of his own. Spoon eased the coat around their shoulder, blushing when they realized it was Hollis’.</p>
<p>                “gross,” Keith commented, noticing Spoon’s weird hero-worship crush. He climbed onto his bike and patted the seat behind him, “get on, loser,” he tugged his helmet on, holding out one for Spoon, “we’re going shopping.”</p>
<p>                                                                                                -x-</p>
<p>                Thus, began the weirdest night of Keith’s life. You’d think it would’ve been when he found out bigfoot was real (and a dilf), or pissing off SWAT teams while his allies saved the world. But no, sitting atop a hill, tossing rocks down at the freeway and eating sour candies with the kid who wrecked his favorite bike definitely takes the cake.</p>
<p>                Spoon had barely said a word the whole time. Keith got the idea that they were still processing shit. Hollis had mentioned that the kid had flare-ups every now and then after fucking up their shoulder in the bike wreck, and Keith felt for them. After all, his ankle had never fully recovered from that snowboarding trick Jake tried teaching him awhile back.</p>
<p>                Still, he knew he wasn’t the one best suited to have this talk with Spoon. In fact, looking over at them now, he deeply regretted not waking up Hollis and begging them to handle it instead. Hmph. Regretted. Not very hornet of him.</p>
<p>                “this is weird, right?” the kid spoke up, flushed face wrinkled into an awkward grimace.</p>
<p>                “yeah, this is weird,” Keith agreed, popping a handful of candy into his mouth.</p>
<p>                “so, what did you...” Spoon trailed off, eying him warily. Fuck, was the kid afraid of him?</p>
<p>                “I don’t fucking know, Hollis is better at this than I am,” he closed his eyes, laying back in the grass. A moment passed, and Spoon laid down next to him. Keith ignored the whimper that slipped past their lips when their shoulder touched the ground.</p>
<p>                Gosh this was so shitty. He should’ve just let them stay home and gone back to sleep. He doesn’t need to have this conversation-</p>
<p>                “was it you?” Spoon said suddenly. Keith watched their breath puff into the cold air before they continued, “when I was inducted into the hornets, officially I mean, the vote,” they paused, and realization dawned on him, “the vote wasn’t unanimous, someone voted to not let me join, was... was it you?”</p>
<p>                <em>Ah</em>. Not Keith’s best moment for sure.</p>
<p>                “yeah, it was,” he said. Fuck this was hard, what would Hollis say?</p>
<p>                “oh,” Spoon replied, “I don’t blame you, I-”</p>
<p>                “shut up, fuck,” Keith interrupted.</p>
<p>Spoon snapped their mouth shut.</p>
<p>“you didn’t let me finish, dipshit,” Spoon looked up at him as he leaned forward, bony elbows digging into the grass, “it was me, but if we did another vote,” he shut his eyes, <em>dammit</em>, “if we did it again, I think, I think the vote would be different.”</p>
<p>He watched Spoon as his words sunk in, surprised when their face crumpled.</p>
<p>“yea, you’re probably right,” they said, voice thick, “I think I pissed Jake off last week, and I know Ronnie’s gotta be tired of me buzzing around them all the time-”</p>
<p>“<em>what the f-</em> no!” Keith stood up, startling Spoon to their feet as well, “you fucking- holy fuck man,” he stepped towards them, pushing a finger into their chest, ignoring the way their cheeks flushed as a result, “I’m trying to say I fucking <em>want you here</em>, you fucking <em>idiot</em>, Christ,”</p>
<p>Keith shook his head in disbelief, turning around and pacing.</p>
<p>“and Ronnie’s like, your best friend or some shit,” he continued, “they’re always rambling about how proud they are of a new trick you learned or how fast you’re getting at skiing, <em>fuck</em> kid,”</p>
<p>Keith turned to face Spoon, only to be met with empty air and the sound of a motorcycle revving a few yards away. He whipped his head around, but he was too late, helpless as he watched the teen speed off down the hill on his bike.</p>
<p>“fucking- <em>dammit</em> Keith! You should’ve fucking <em>known</em>-” he grumbled, pulling up Hollis on speed-dial.</p>
<p>                                                                                -x-</p>
<p>Tears streaked down Spoon’s face as they wove through traffic. They were definitely not skilled enough to be driving like this, let alone one-handed, but they were a creature of impulse, and impulse had demanded they get out of that conversation before Keith saw them cry a second time. Not that there was anything wrong with crying, but <em>fuck</em> Keith was being so nice to them, and Keith is never nice to them and there’s no fucking way he’d do that without some sort of ulterior motive. That’s what Spoon’s impulse was telling them, anyway.</p>
<p>They end up pulling over onto a side road, turning the headlights off for good measure. They wrestle their phone out of their pocket, hesitating over Bow’s contact before scrolling past Ronnie’s to find Lydia’s. Bow had been having a rough time getting sleep lately, and Spoon didn’t trust themself to face Ronnie, now knowing that, according to Keith, Ronnie was <em>proud</em> of them. They shuffled in the frost-covered leaves, waiting for Lydia to pick up. It <em>was</em> 5am, there was a good chance she wasn’t going to-</p>
<p>“what the hell do you want,” her groggy tired voice had never made Spoon so happy.</p>
<p>“Lydia! I didn’t think you were gonna answer,”</p>
<p>“I almost didn’t, this better be good, Whitemire.”</p>
<p>“it is, I’m-” they paused, trying to find a way to phrase their sentence in the least pathetic way possible, “I’m out in the woods, and I need a ride home?”</p>
<p>“… I’m hanging up now.”</p>
<p>“w-no! please, my shoulder’s fucked up and I’m shaky and I’m half blind from crying and it’s fucking <em>cold-</em>”</p>
<p>“w- slow down, were you attacked? Is there another abomination on the loose?”</p>
<p>                Spoon weighed their options. On one hand, Lydia was their friend, and lying to your friends is wrong. On the other hand, if they told the truth, Lydia would hang up and they’d have to call someone who’s opinion they actually care about to come get them.</p>
<p>                “… yes, that’s exactly what happened,”</p>
<p>                “dammit, okay, can you get to a landmark or something so I can find you easier?”</p>
<p>                “yeah, yeah I can do that,” they wheezed as they leaned the phone on their shoulder and wheeled Keith’s bike behind a crop of trees, taking a look around, “I’m by the gas station on Dimmesdale, the one with the-”</p>
<p>                “the broken ICEE machine, yeah, I’m on my way,”</p>
<p>                Spoon heard shuffling on the other end before Lydia hung up. They walked across the street towards the gas station, buying a shitty pretzel and waiting for Lydia to arrive.</p>
<p>                                                                                                -x-</p>
<p>                Needless to say, Lydia was pissed. Spoon had waited until they were back at the school before he told her the truth, knowing the curfew rules would keep her from yelling at him <em>too</em> loud. It hadn’t however, stopped her from punching him on the arm, his good arm, thankfully, and saying a great many words he hadn’t heard from someone of her upbringing in a long time.</p>
<p>                “do you have any idea how worried I was?” she whisper-yelled.</p>
<p>                “aww you were w-”</p>
<p>                “not about <em>you</em>, asshole, about the bom-bom!”</p>
<p>                <em>Bom-bom</em>, how cute. Lydia was cute, even as she ranted and paced around her dorm suite. She’d made it noticeably clear that she wasn’t interested in Spoon, and he respected that, but he was still endeared by her grumpy exterior. (he’d called her grumpy once before, and she threw an eraser at his head. That was also very cute.)</p>
<p>                “Lydia, I’m sorry,” he cut in, “I really am, but I needed you to come pick me up,” in his best princess Leia impression he added, “you were my only hope,”</p>
<p>                Lydia scowled, but stopped lecturing him. Sighing, Spoon flopped back onto her bed, ignoring her glare.</p>
<p>                “something awful <em>did</em> happen tonight though,” he started, facing her with a grave expression.</p>
<p>                She rolled her eyes.</p>
<p>                “what? You got mud on your shoes?”</p>
<p>                “no, worse than that,” he let out a pained sigh, “Lydia, I think I want to fuck Keith.”</p>
<p>                She stared at him for a moment, before shaking her head and sitting in a chair across from him.</p>
<p>                “no, you don’t,”</p>
<p>                “mmmm, I’m pretty sure I do,”</p>
<p>                “did you hit your head? You hate Keith,”</p>
<p>                “correction, I <em>did</em> hate Keith,”</p>
<p>                “and what changed? Did he stop being, and I quote, ‘a toooootal pain in the ass’”</p>
<p>                Spoon sat up.</p>
<p>                “no, he still sucks, but,” he leaned forward, “<em>he has a tongue piercing</em>,”</p>
<p>                Lydia groaned, rolling her eyes, and pulling a knee up to her chest. Spoon grinned, he’d successfully diverted the conversation <em>and</em> he was bonding with Lydia. Talk about a win-win!</p>
<p>                “that’s not a reason to want to sleep with someone, Spoon,”</p>
<p>                “Di-di it <em>so</em> is,” he lifted his hand to his forehead, dramatically swooning, “and you should have <em>heard</em> the way he talked to me tonight Lydi,”</p>
<p>                “you’re unbelievable, like actually, you’ve got to be joking,”</p>
<p>                “’I fucking <em>want you here</em>,’” Spoon quoted, “he said he <em>wants me</em> Lydia,” Spoon was mostly exaggerating at this point, but he’d be lying if he said his heart didn’t flutter when he’d heard those words out loud. Ugh. Maybe Jake was right. Maybe he should consider therapy.</p>
<p>                “I can’t talk to you when you’re like this, it’s 5am, I’m going back to sleep,” Lydia stood up from her seat, shooing Spoon off her bed.</p>
<p>                He laughed at her tired expression, sitting down on her couch.</p>
<p>                “Lydia?”</p>
<p>                “what?” she grumbled, fingertips brushing over her lamp.</p>
<p>                “do you have a heating pad?”</p>
<p>                “top drawer,” she turned off the light, not seeing the teasing way Spoon’s eyebrows shot up.</p>
<p>                “like... your <em>underwear</em> drawer?”</p>
<p>                “oh my <em>god</em> Spoon, go to <em>sleep</em>-”</p>
<p>                “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” he shuffled around for the heating pad, smiling successfully when he managed to plug it in, “sweet dreams, Di-di,” he said, sighing when the heat seeped into his aching shoulder.</p>
<p>                He didn’t get a response. Lydia was asleep. And soon, as the sun slipped into the Kepler sky, so was Spoon.</p>
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